Fabio Carvalho may have thought his fortunes had changed at RB Leipzig as he scored to put them 3-2 up at Man City, only for his goal to be ruled out.
It is fair to say that Carvalho has not had the best of times on loan at Leipzig so far this season, with just two starts and 257 minutes played.
But he was involved in the Champions League on Tuesday night, coming off the bench with 16 minutes left to play and the two sides level at 2-2.
Leipzig had seen an early lead, via two Lois Openda strikes, cancelled out in the second half through Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.
Injury to Xavi Simons, their most reliable sources of goals this season, served as another blow midway through the second half.
On came Carvalho as part of a double change, and within two minutes the Liverpool loanee had found the back of the net, racing through and finishing low into the bottom corner.
Unfortunately, the goal was chalked off, with Carvalho marginally offside for an initial touch off his backside from Lukas Klostermann’s long ball forward.
The 21-year-old had nudged the ball into the path of Yussuf Poulsen with his rear end, before moving into space to collect the return pass and finish.
It wasn’t to be, with Man City then winning the tie late on through Julian Alvarez, though both sides are guaranteed a place in the last 16.
The issue for Simons, who arrived on loan from Paris Saint-Germain not long after Carvalho’s switch from Liverpool and swiftly took his spot, could have served as a positive of sorts for the Portuguese.
• COLUMN: Liverpool facing Carvalho decision after Leipzig fail to deliver on ‘promise’
But with fears the Dutchman had suffered a similar shoulder issue to Dani Olmo, manager Marco Rose told reporters: “The doctor was able to give the all-clear at first. It wasn’t anything obvious like Dani’s.”
Carvalho will instead hope his performance will have caught Rose’s eye, with five games remaining before the Bundesliga’s winter break.
One of those fixtures is a dead-rubber at home to Young Boys in the Champions League, which he could hope to start if the manager shuffles his pack.
The versatile attacker may face a tough decision if things don’t improve, though, with talks likely to be held with Leipzig and Liverpool over a possible termination of his loan in January.
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